Christian Forbearance
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earth dare question. No one can bar your way to the portals of the city
of God, but you will have free access to the royal presence and to the
temple of God on high.
A few words more press upon my mind. I want you to be united
with the church, not because I regard all the church members perfect
nor because I regard you perfect. God has precious ones in His church;
there are also men and women who are as tares among the wheat. But
the Lord does not give you or anyone else the office of saying who
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are tares and who are wheat. We may see and condemn the faults of
others, while we have greater faults which we have never realized,
but which are distinctly seen by others. God requires you to give to
the world and the church a good example, a life that represents Jesus.
There are duties to be performed and responsibilities to be borne. The
world has not enough true Christians; the church has need of them;
society cannot spare them. Christ’s prayer for His disciples was: “I
pray not that Thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that Thou
shouldest keep them from the evil.” Jesus knows we are in the world,
exposed to its temptations, but He loves us and will give us grace to
triumph over its corrupting influences. He would have us perfect in
character, that our waywardness may not occasion moral deformity in
others.
You see that your brethren do not come up to the Bible standard,
that there are defects in them; and you dwell upon these defects. You
feed upon them instead of feeding upon Christ, and by beholding you
become changed into the same image. But criticize no one; do not
contrast your own exact course with the deficiencies of others. You
may be in danger of wanting to correct others and make them feel
their wrongs. Do not do this. This is not the work God has given you
to do. He has not made you a church tinker. There are many things
which you view in the light of the Bible. But though you may be in
the right on some points, do not get the impression that your positions
are always correct; for on many points your ideas are distorted and
will not bear criticism.
Do not seek to exalt self, but learn in the school of Christ meekness
and lowliness of heart. You know what Peter’s character was, how
strikingly his peculiar traits were developed. Before his great fall he
was always forward and dictatorial, speaking unadvisedly from the
impulse of the moment. He was always ready to correct others and to